The fate of five corps members, amongst them four ladies and a man who were kidnapped last Tuesday in Ikwerre local government area (home town of Governor Rotimi Amaechi) in Rivers state has so far been clouded by intricacies bothering on general underreporting by the media, concealment of their identity by the NYSC, seeming silence on the part of the presidency and the force headquarters in Abuja, insistence by the Rivers government not to negotiate with the kidnappers amidst threats by the abductors to use the victims for rituals if not paid N20m on each of the five corps members.


Faced by the situation, Mrs Jumoke Yusuf a Lagos based mother of the only man amongst the kidnapped corps members, yesterday cried out in a telephone interview with Weekly Trust, demanding that the federal government and the NYSC produce her only son, Olumide Akinwale Yusuf, male- 25, a graduate of Chemical Engineering from Lagos State University. Mrs Yusuf said she has remained terrified since Tuesday after a friend of her son called her and informed her that Yusuf had been kidnapped. She said the kidnappers called yesterday demanding that the family must pay N20m as ransom on her son or he will be killed and used for ritual.



“They called us and said we are wasting time and that if we don’t pay N20m on my son, they will flush all of them and use them for rituals, I told them I am a retired civil servant, I have retired 10 years ago, I am the one responsible for my only son, his father is not with us, but they just insisted on getting the ransom paid. Where will I get that money from? The federal government and the NYSC should produce my son alive that is all I need now” Mrs Yusuf said. She described as unfortunate, a situation where her son was taken away to a place he never visited in the name of serving his father land only to be kidnapped after spending so much on him and his personal efforts to become a graduate.

Weekly Trust learnt that the kidnapped Yusuf, the only person identified so far, was serving in a community secondary school in Omademe village in Ikwere local government area. He is scheduled to complete his one year service by next week when the batch ‘b’ 2010 corps members will be passing out. Yusuf hails from Lagos Island local government area of Lagos State. His mother said her four daughters served in the north: two in Niger state, the others in Nasarawa and Plateau states and none had problems except Yusuf who was posted to the southern part of Nigeria.

Mrs Yusuf decried what she called underreporting of the kidnap saga saying the issue has not been given the adequate coverage it deserves.

While the woman remains in agony, Weekly Trust reports that the Presidency was yet to make public pronouncement on the matter. The Rivers government has insisted it will neither negotiate with the kidnappers nor pay any ransom. Governor Rotimi Amaechi who spoke through Blessing Wikina, his press secretary said his administration has since made it a policy not to pay ransom to kidnappers. He described the kidnap as shameless noting that security agencies in the state are capable of rescuing the corps members. Amaechi also said keeping the victims will never attract ransom for the kidnappers and as such they should release the corps members immediately as they will soon be tracked down. The government noted that paying the ransom will always encourage more kidnaps.

The Rivers NYSC was yet to release the identity of the corps members. It was not clear what part of the country and states they hail from. Esther Chimele Wogbo, coordinator of the NYSC in Rivers state did not pick serial calls and didn’t also respond to a text message sent to her Glo line by our correspondent. The text message made enquiries on the N100 million ransoms as well as the identity of the corps members shrouded in mystery.

Some female corps members in Port Harcourt on Thursday expressed fears that the four ladies being held may be raped by the kidnappers. Though the corps members pleaded not to be identified in print, they expressed serious concern over the fate of their colleagues. They couldn’t also guess the identity of the five victims even as they raise concerns over the safety of other corps members across the state.

Rivers commissioner of police, Suleiman Abba didn’t confirm or refute the information about the N100 million demands by the kidnappers. He specifically said he had nothing to add after his Wednesday’s phone interview with our correspondent during which he confirmed that the five corps members were kidnapped and that the police was making high level effort to rescue them.

Weekly Trust reports that the corps members were kidnapped in Ikwerre local government area of Rivers on Tuesday night. It would be recalled that some Corps members were killed in some Northern states during the post election violence that rocked that part of the country. Scores of corps members from Rivers State serving in Bauchi and other states were evacuated and returned home while they went on procession to the NYSC secretariat in Port Harcourt demanding that they should be redeployed to serve in either their states of origin or within the south-south.

http://www.weekly.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6269:mother-cries-out-ive-no-money-so-nysc-must-produce-my-only-son&catid=40:cover-stories&Itemid=26

The Rivers NYSC was yet to release the identity of the corps members. It was not clear what part of the country and states they hail from

probably all yoruba.

imo, NYSC would have released the names by now if some of them werent.

o ga o.

the ones who were r.aped the other time, also didnt get their names released.

God punish devil.

Moderators please take this to front page.It requires urgent attention.

Right now I am trying to recount if I have any one I know that is serving in Rivers. God forbid if they violate those poor innocent children. I know they'll be released. They can't use them for rituals.God forbid!

There are too many useless stories these days on front page.Moderators please do something about that. >: